Interview by Logan Scisco
Competing for Eastview High School in Apple Valley, Minnesota for Todd Hering, Akshar Rambachan achieved a high level of success in the 2007-2008 extemporaneous speaking season. By the end of the season, Akshar had won the Minnesota Class 2A extemporaneous speaking state championship and then became only the second extemporaneous speaker ever to win the CFL and NFL national extemporaneous speaking championships in the same year. He also won the Mehta Bowl, awarded to the final round national champion in International Extemporaneous Speaking. Akshar also holds the unique distinction of forming the only brother-sister combination to win an NFL extemporaneous speaking national championship, as his sister, Ishanaa Rambachan, won the 2004 NFL International Extemporaneous Speaking national championship (as well as the final round national championship) in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Logan Scisco: First off all Akshar, congratulations on the victories at CFL and NFL
Nationals. It has to be a great feeling to be only the second extemper in history to achieve such a milestone.
Akshar Rambachan: Thanks a lot. I appreciate this opportunity to talk to the extemp community.
LS: So tell us, how did you get started in extemp?
AR: My sister did extemp and my debate coach, Mr. Hering, was also the extemp coach. From the advice of both of them. I took up the challenge.
LS: Who had the most influence on your extemporaneous speaking career?
AR: Two people had an enormous influence on my career: my coach, Mr. Hering and my Dad. Mr. Hering is an extremely dedicated coach and he would spend as much time as we needed to help us out. I never felt that a practice with him was a waste. More importantly, we all got along with him so well, that we enjoyed just hanging out and talking casually about non-speech stuff. This helped me feel comfortable working with him as he is both a coach and a friend. My Dad has helped me with public speaking since the 6th grade when I did serious prose in Middle School Declam. He taught me the importance of being accessible as a speaker and would always come to my final rounds and provide great support for me. Along with my Mom, we would always have dinner table political conversations that would always stimulate my intellect.
LS: Finding your “niche” in forensics is one of the hardest things for competitors to do when they begin the activity. When did you know extemp was the right event for you?
AR: Extemp was my one and only event and I can honestly say that I enjoyed every moment of it. I really loved the atmosphere of my freshman year. I broke to Varsity finals several times and was able to compete on the same stage as Kevin Troy, James Hohmann, and Alex Stephenson. The year before I started Extemp, I would watch my sister’s final rounds. It was truly a privilege to watch four different national champions compete and being able to compete head-to-head with three of them. I remember those final rounds being of such high quality that I immediately was drawn to Extemp.
LS: You come from a school with a rich tradition of extemporaneous speaking national champions, with a sweep of the International Extemp and US Extemp titles in 2004 and a US Extemp championship in 2005. Do you believe that helped you achieve what you did?
AR: Eastview’s previous success at the National tournament definitely made me aim high from the very beginning. I saw that winning the National tournament was possible. Tradition is always a great motivator.
LS: To build on that last question, you come from a state that has had an enormous amount of success in extemporaneous speaking over the last five years. Two CFL national champions and six NFL champions, excluding final round national championships, have come from Minnesota. Do you believe your years competing in Minnesota helped you develop into a strong extemporaneous speaker? Also, could you share some insight into what it is like to compete in such a high equality environment.
AR: I don’t think I would have won Nationals without the quality of competition here in Minnesota- from Apple Valley, Eagan and Lakeville. Many wonder why people from Minnesota do not travel a lot to the big-name national tournaments and it’s because we have high quality tournaments every Saturday just a half hour away. When you are competing against national champions and being judged by the coaches of national champions, you’re pretty lucky. I found it really enjoyable and surreal to cross-ex Maddie Gardner in IX finals. We had been competing against each other weekly since freshman year, and it just shows how the MN speech atmosphere prepares you.
LS: As you progressed as a speaker, did you model your speaking style after any particular extemp past or present? If so who and why?
AR: No. I really tried to be unique in my presentation. All I wanted to do was be as accessible as possible to the common audience while still demonstrating a wide range of knowledge.
LS: Building on that last question, what was the best piece of advice you ever received in regards to extemporaneous speaking?
AR: “Slow down, pause and explain”- My coach Mr. Hering would tell me this after every practice speech my junior and senior years. I had a speed problem. Once I mastered slowing down and pausing, I was able to communicate my thoughts and utilize my knowledge base 100% better.
LS: In your opinion, what do you think are some traits that all great extempers have had?
AR: All great extempers have extensive background knowledge, the ability to speak in an engaging manner, and a little luck at the draw table.
LS: You had a great deal of success last year, yet never traveled the “national circuit.” Was there a national circuit tournament that you wish you could have competed at during your career that you did not have a chance to? What was it and why?
AR: I really would have liked to compete at the MBA [Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin]. I was invited my senior year, but was out of town during the tournament. I find cross examination one of the best innovations to Extemp and I feel that it should be utilized a lot more. The set-up of the tournament was very appealing to me with the cross-ex and the quantity of rounds.
LS: I know that we will have a lot of people reading this interview and wondering how you went about preparing for nationals last year, especially because of your great run through both tournaments. Did you have a specific practice routine? If so, what was it?
AR: During my offseason (after nationals through mid-January), I try to stay on top of news by reading the newspaper and journals. From January through June, I would spend on average 2.5 hours a day reading, highlighting and filing everything I could find. I had a list of about a dozen newspapers (NYT, CSM, Washington Post), a dozen think-tanks (CFR, WINEP, CSIS) and about 3-4 journals (Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, WQ). During the month before Nationals, I would give about 3 extended prep practice speeches per week to my coach on variety of topics. These extended prep speeches are where you spend more than 30 minutes preparing and tried to perfect the content of the speech. I would also sit around with my team and discuss topics at length. It was a great environment to work in at Eastview, because we had also qualified other people in extemp as well as in interp and debate. I also found CFL’s a great warm-up for NFL’s. Having eight competitive rounds before NFL’s was invaluable preparation.
LS: I know first-hand that speaking in front of the cameras for NFL finals can be a very nerve racking experience. Each competitor deals with these nerves in their own way and future competitors who will find themselves in this position might want some advice for how you coped with it or prepared for it. Therefore, just before you walked out on stage to give your final round speech at NFL this year, with the cameras rolling and all eyes in the speech world in Vegas focused on you, what was going through your mind?
AR: “I am really going to miss this.” Surprisingly, I was not very nervous. I really felt in my element. It is where I wanted to be — competing on the big stage. I was so happy that I would at least have a shot at the title.
LS: Younger extempers will be a large part of the audience reading this article and they will want to emulate your success on a local and national stage. What advice do you have for them to do well at this event?
AR: There are three pieces of advice I would have:
1) Read, Read and Read- There is no substitute for extensive topic knowledge. Extempdex and topic briefs can’t compare to information you actively seek and synthesize for yourself. If you are capable of maintaining a pool of constant background knowledge, you are able to more effectively use to prep time to fine tune your arguments and focus on delivery.
2) Speak Slowly and Passionately- I think too many extempers forget that the activity they are in is called, “Speech.” While it is impressive to be able to explain Fukuyama’s latest theory or summarize Friedman’s new book, if your arguments are not accessible to the common audience, then it does not pay off. Try to be engaging to your audience both intellectually and verbally. Use pauses effectively, speak louder for emphasis, slow down for important points and use facial expressions for emotional parts.
3) Love what you do- I really can’t express how much I loved extemporaneous speaking and how much I will miss competing. If you really enjoy the activity, it should all be fun. It shouldn’t be work to read the latest Economist. Maybe it’s just me, but I never regretted getting up at 6AM on Saturday mornings. When you love what you are doing, it will be reflected in your work ethic and passion on-stage.
LS: I’m glad you touched on the reading aspect of the event, that is something I emphasize over and over again with students I work with. Are there any books you would recommend to beginning or veteran extempers who are seeking to improve their knowledge base?
AR: My favorite extemp books are the “Shia Revival” by Vali Nasr, “The Post American World” by Fareed Zakaria and “The Second World” by Parag Khanaa. I think all of those books are essential to understanding the world and provide an excellent background on so many issues. I would also recommend “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman, “Hot, Flat and Crowded” by Friedman, “The Future of Freedom” by Zakaria and if you’re really ambitious a textbook called, “The Globalization of World Politics.”
LS: Akshar, at the end of the day, what do you consider your greatest career accomplishment?
AR: I consider winning the NFL IX National Championship my greatest career accomplishment because that had been my goal since Freshman year. However, I was really thrilled to win the CFL Championship as well because I had no background in Domestic extemp and because it was the first year my school, Eastview, had competed at CFL’s.
LS: Do you think the extemporaneous speaking community needs to change
in any way? If so, how?
AR: I think my three pieces of advice given above apply here. Furthermore, I think there needs to be less of an emphasis on information cramming and a newfound focus on public delivery and accessibility. I also strongly believe there needs to be serious source checking at all major tournaments. I think source fabrication is like the steroids of extemp. I think in the culture of Extemp, where speakers are expected to cite 12 articles a speech, leads to this and it needs to be stopped. When people make up sources it harms the integrity of the activity. Finally, I would like to see cross-ex implemented at many more tournaments. It forces people to think critically and most importantly, it holds people accountable.
LS: What are your long-term plans in life/college?
AR: I am attending St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. Right now, I am planning a double major in Chemistry and Political Science. I am really unsure on what my long-term plans are, but I could go in many directions — either med school or law school.
LS: Do you plan on still being involved with the speech and debate community now that you are finished competing?
AR: Unfortunately, college is taking up a lot of time. However, I hope to be able to judge and help out with the Eastview team whenever possible.
LS: Thank you for your time Akshar to give this interview and to give back to the extemporaneous speaking community.
AR: My pleasure.